


Stolen Jewels and Stolen Hearts

by LukasBabadookas



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (comes more into play later though), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), Heists gone wrong, Humor, Korean Keith (Voltron), Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Thief AU, Thief Keith, Thief Lance, Trans Keith (Voltron), fluff?, or do they
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-10-05 21:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10316996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LukasBabadookas/pseuds/LukasBabadookas
Summary: Lance "The Tailor" McClain is an upcoming thief. Pidge supplies the tech, Hunk supplies the street info. Lance's next heist was going to go perfectly-Until he encounters the thief "Double K", his infamous rival (and secret crush).Then things don't go according to plan.





	1. Is That A Fuckin' Mullet?

**Author's Note:**

> the fact that this is the best fic ive ever written kinda scares me
> 
> hope you dudes enjoy it tho, i had a lot of fun writing it  
> i think i have a few ideas on where i want this story to go :D
> 
> written to the song : A'int No Rest For The Wicked by Cage the Elephant  
> link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKtsdZs9LJo

He’d been planning this heist for weeks. Everything was perfect. He knew the layout of the building, all the exits, and all the security camera locations. He had his escape plan, a plan B, and a plan C all ready. There was no way this could go wrong, and even if it did he was prepared. 

Lance was ready. That jewelry store was his.

He grabbed his tool bag and double checked the contents. He didn’t want another “Altean Artifacts” incident. He actually forgot to grab his lockpicks, and that ended up turning into a huge fiasco. 

Lance shrugged his bag across his back and snuck out his window. He scaled the fire escape and hopped onto the roof, constantly checking over his shoulder. He was going to make this the most successful heist to date, and nothing was going to stop him. He was Lance goddamn McClain, master thief. The police didn’t need to know that, however.

He had jumped from his apartment roof to a nearby shop and kept running, waiting for the giant glowing “Galra Gems” sign to show up in his peripheral vision. That store was so unbearably gaudy, the owner should be glad he’s stealing from them. 

He had jumped a few more roofs until he finally saw the sign right across the street. Not that it would be hard to miss. He placed his bag down onto the concrete and reviewed his plan. 

First, shut off the cameras. Thank Pidge and her techie skills. Why she had a device that somehow shut off cameras lying around, he wasn’t going to ask. He was thankful enough to have it. 

He grabbed the small black box out of his bag, already set to the cameras in Galra Gems, and pressed the button labeled “Press this one, idiot”. Eloquently put, Pidge. 

Next, sneak in through the vent in the alley. He put the black box back into his duffel and scaled down the building he was on. He crossed the street and ducked into the alley, as naturally as possible. He went for his screwdriver, but noticed the vent was already open. The vent was dented, lying on the ground. As much as his brain wanted to jump to conclusions, he wasn’t going to let anything deter him. The screws were loose, that’s all. He jumped onto the dumpster and crawled through the vent.

He knew this vent system like the back of his hand, so navigating it wasn’t the problem. His brain was constantly going off on tangents. Why was the vent dented? Had the place already been cleaned? 

Was there someone else inside the building?

No, of course not. No one was in the building this late, and he would’ve known about any kind of robbery. Hunk keeps tabs on all crime activity in the city, and it was at an all time low this month. Hunk hadn’t heard of any stunts by other thieves for a few months, so that shouldn’t have been an issue. 

He reached the vent that lead to the owner’s office, and removed the bolts. He lowered himself down into the office, making sure to put the vent back in place, and softly landed onto the floor. He searched the desk drawers for the keys to the glass cases. He found the set, and flipped through them to the find the right key.

Thump. Thump. Shove.

His head shot up and his heart skipped a beat. Either ghosts were real and messing with him, or there was another person in the building. God forbid it’s the latter. The office didn’t have any windows but a small one in the door, making it hard to see anything or anyone. 

Though, it’s a bit hard to miss a beautiful man in black sneaking around, with stunning dark eyes and- is that a fucking mullet?

Lance’s body ran cold and hot at the same time. He could recognize that weirdly attractive but disgusting mullet anywhere. It belonged to his rival, the thief who always one upped him, the one he’d been crushing on- I mean admiring. Not that he’d admit that. This was also the guy who’d been MIA for a little under half a year.

Double K.

That mullet man had been ruining his jobs for months. Always grabbing the expensive jewels before Lance even knows the store exists. It was infuriating. And Lance would be damned if he’s going to let K ruin this.

Lance was usually a methodical person. He liked planning and organization. But these next few minutes will be the most impulsive things he’s ever done. Not reckless, but impulsive.

He moved the vent cover and jumped back into the shaft. He was going to have the upper hand, no matter what. 

He crawled through the vent until he reached the one that led to the main room. K was still there, trying to somehow bust open a case. Idiot. Must’ve lost his touch. 

Lance unscrewed the bolts and slide the cover open quietly. He grabbed a loose bolt and threw it down into the main room, hoping K would move away from the middle. And he did.

While he was distracted, Lance jumped down from the vent and crawled over to the case K was trying to bust open earlier. He unlocked the case, but stole the necklace from it. He slid behind another case and K returned to the case. 

He took two looks at it, and began searching around for the stolen item. 

“Looking for this?” Lance teased, as he leaned himself on the glass table, swinging the necklace around. K looked at him with a bitter expression on his face. Are his eyes purple?

“Who the hell are you? How’d you get that?” Lance put on a shit-eating grin and threw his legs over the counter. 

“Well, pretty boy, I’m the guy who’s robbing this place. The name’s Tailor. You’re Double K, aren’t you? My infamous rival.” K cocked his eyebrow in confusion and slowly approached him.

“Didn’t answer my other question. How the hell did you get that? The case was shut.” Lance chuckled.

“I got the keys moron. I’ve been planning this heist for weeks. I’m not going to come in here and just try and smash the glass, like you were so cleverly doing. What happened to Double K, master thief?” Lance was acting coy, but he was genuinely curious. What put such a great thief out of commission for nearly half a year?

“None of your damn business. If you’ll excuse me, I have a place to rob.”

“Oh, no you don’t! This is my heist! I’m gonna rob this place even if it kills me!” 

“Even though you got here after me?”

“At least I planned ahead enough to get the damn keys. You were gonna trip the alarm if you kept bashing that case.” K rolled his eyes. Jesus, what happened to this guy? He used to be able to get in and out of buildings in a matter of minutes without leaving a thing behind. Now he can’t even open a case?

They didn’t say anything after that. Lance kept grabbing as much as he could before K got to it. He wasn’t going to let his rivalry get so much in the way that he came out empty handed.

His bag wasn’t even a quarter of the way full when he heard the alarm.

He knew K heard them too, given his head shooting up and his eyes wide.

“Did you trip the fucking alarm?!” Lance yelled.

“I’m not stupid, of course I didn’t! Did you hit the alarm?!” Keith snapped.

“Fuck off, of course not!” 

Their bickering was stopped by a police siren growing louder and louder, and they knew they had to leave with what they had.

Lance jumped back up into the vent, with K following him.

“What the fuck are you doing?! Get out of my vent!” 

“Not like I have many choices in exiting now do I, Tailor?!” The two boys hurried through the vents until they reached the alleyway. Lance jumped from the dumpster to the fire escape ladder, pulling it down and climbing up. K continued to follow him, moving with just as much speed.

“Quit following me, mullet! You’re gonna get me caught!”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid!” 

They reached the top of the roof and started running as fast as they could. They jumped about two buildings, when they saw the police helicopter a few miles ahead.

Lance saw an open window, and headed toward it. He jumped off the roof and landed on the balcony, but it gave in. The metal balcony tore from the walls and began to fall. Lance managed to grab onto the window and crawl in. But K was still on the roof with no exit.

Lance, without thinking, yelled for him.

“K! Jump and grab my hand!” His head shot towards Lance, a confused look on his face. Lance continued to hold out his hand, when K jumped. He latched hold of Lance’s arm and he pulled the two of them in. 

They made it. They were safe, for now.

They managed to jump into an empty apartment room, with nothing but the sound of their breathing to fill the space.

“Did they see us?” K inquired.

Lance peaked his head slightly out of the window, looking for the helicopter.

“I think they flew right over us. We’re safe.”

“Thank god.”

They were silent, as the two boys rested themselves on the cruddy apartment walls. It was nice, even though the heist was completely ruined.

“Why did you help me?” Lance turned to K, his face red and sweaty. Even after an escape, K still looked beautiful.

“I-uh… I didn’t want to leave you up there. I don’t really have a reason.” 

“I remember you, you know?” Lance perked up.

“You do?! I mean uh- you do?” He tried to play off his reaction, but he was excited. As much as he wanted to be K’s rival, he couldn’t help but feel elated. K gave a soft smile, God this man was going to kill him.

“Heh, yeah for the most part. Let’s see, you were a thief on the rise, named the Tailor. I think I remember my friend Pidge bring you-”

 

“Wait, you know Pidge?!”

“Yeah, she gave me the idea to rob this place. I’ve known her for awhile. How do you know her?”

 

“We’ve been friends for 4 years and she gave me the idea to rob this place!” They stared at each other for a few moments, until it dawned on them.

“PIDGE DID THIS ON PURPOSE!?” They both yelled.

“Why would she do that? She’s friends with thieves, she knows it’s a mess when they rob the same place.” Lance wondered.

“Beats me. Honestly, I don’t care enough to find out. I’m tired, and I can’t get home tonight cause of the cops.” Lance saw his face fall, and sighed.

“Hey uh, I know we're supposed to be rivals-”

“I never agreed to that.”

“You don’t agree to being a rival! Anyway, even though we’re rivals, I can let you lay low at my apartment for tonight. It’s not far, and I know a way we can get back without being seen.”

“For our supposed ‘rivalry’, you are being extremely generous. Sure, since I don’t really have a choice.”  
“Don’t act like the idea causes you so much pain! After all, who wouldn’t want to spend the night with the great Tailor himself?” Lance did his signature figure guns at K, who stared at him with a blank face.

“Let’s just go to your apartment, ok?”

“Rude. But fine. Let’s evade some more cops.”


	2. In Too Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith wasn't surprised by his attraction to the Tailor. He was a pretty man, with eyes as blue as the sea, with beautiful tan skin.
> 
> What he was surprised by was how quickly his attraction turned into something deeper. 
> 
> In which: Keith is smitten for the pretty boy and it becomes a 'problem'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is from keith's pov  
> honestly i was tempted to make this gayer than it is but i have committed myself to making this as slow and have as much pining as possible
> 
> (note, in this au hunk, lance, and keith are all 18 and pidge is 16. shiro, allura, and coran will come into play later in the story and i'll reveal their ages then)
> 
> written to the song: Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner  
> link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqWq_48LxWQ

Tailor was right. They really weren’t far from his apartment. Keith was grateful for that, because running from cops for the next few blocks did not sound appealing. All he wanted was a nice sleep after a shitty heist. 

Keith had been closely following the Tailor for about 10 minutes, when he showed Keith into a run down apartment building. They walked up two flights of stairs as quietly as possible until they ducked into apartment number 306. The place was pretty barren and shoddy, though it was to be expected. Thieves rarely lived in mansions.

The Tailor threw his bag down onto the floor and shrugged off a lot of his black clothing. His beanie, his gloves, stripped down until he was in his shirt and pants. Keith watched him intently, his eyes following the swift motions he made. Those hands could do a lot more than pick a lock. 

Keith realized what he had just thought and mentally punched himself. You barely know this guy, and he doesn’t even see you as anything more than a rival. Now is not the time to be getting gay, even if he is currently in his apartment.

The Tailor wasn’t even that great! Sure, he could steal a necklace right under Keith’s nose, but his personality was so damn obnoxious. Cocky, arrogant, competitive to all hell. If it wasn’t for his ocean blue eyes, his toned body, and his weirdly beautiful, stupid smirk-

Oh fuck. 

This was stupid. Keith was being extremely stupid. He didn’t even know this guys fucking name, or anything about him. He reasoned that this was just a stupid crush. It’ll go away, it always does. Just a pretty boy, nothing else. Probably straight anyway.

While Keith was having this mental battle with himself, the Tailor had made his way over to the kitchen to make himself something. Keith propped himself up against a wall, still watching Tailor closely.

“What’s your name?” Keith blurted out. He was known for not thinking things through, but once he saw the Tailor’s face after that, he knew he should’ve.

“How do I know you won’t rat me out to the cops and get me out of your hair? We are rivals, I’m sure you’d like to have me gone.” The Tailor hissed.

“One, I still don’t get the rivalry thing, and two, I’m not gonna rat you to the police because if you’ve somehow forgotten, I’m also a fucking thief. I wouldn’t touch the police station with a ten foot pole.” Keith retorted, a bit harsher than he meant to. He always was absolute shit when talking to people.

“Ok ok, snappy. I was just looking out for myself. I totally understand why you’d want the true name of the legendary Tailor.” He flashed a cocky grin and tried to flex his arms. It was stupid, but it was stupidly cute.

Keith has gotta stop that.

“Still didn’t answer my question, legendary Tailor.” Keith teased.

“Fine fine, it’s……” He trailed off. Keith motioned for him to continue, to which he put up a finger. 

“LANCE! Yes, the Tailor’s true name is Lance McClain. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like your name. Just so we’re even.” Keith rolled his eyes. 

“I was gonna give it to you anyway. It’s Keith Kogane.” Lance gave him a slightly blank face, before he lit up.

“Oh! Double K, Keith Kogane! Clever. Boring, but clever!” Keith gave a little laugh due to his excitement. 

“Why Tailor? Are you seamstress by day, thief by night?” Keith joked. Lance slided up to Keith and propped his arm on his shoulder.

“Well, Keithy boy. You see, they call me ‘The Tailor’ because of how I thread the needle.” He made an ‘ok’ sign with his right hand and put his index finger through the hole. He waggled his eyebrows at Keith who flushed red.

“Oh my god, stop. You’re disgusting. I shouldn’t have asked.” Lance put a hand to his heart and gasped dramatically.

“How dare thee insult the Tailor!” Keith couldn’t stop himself from giving a few more laughs. The guy was annoying, but funny at times.

“I really hope that’s not the actual reason you named yourself ‘The Tailor’.” 

“Alas, it isn’t. But you gotta admit, pretty damn good joke.” Lance boasted.  
“Pretty damn bad one if I’m honest. But seriously, how’d you pick the name?” Lance opened his mouth, then closed it. He seemed to be thinking, like he couldn’t remember.

“I don’t know, actually. I mean, I have the ability to sew, but I really hope past me didn’t pick the name due to my ability to make fashion.” Keith cocked his head to the side. Lance didn’t seem like the guy to forget something like that. Not that Keith really knew anything about him.

They stood in silence, which was starting to become something that happened a lot. Keith was hesitant to say anything to him. Lance had turned his attention back to the food he was making, which was looking to just be some yogurt and strawberries. 

“Yo, Keith. I don’t have anywhere for you to sleep so you can just take my bed. Well, mattress I guess.” Part of Keith wanted to take the bed so he could smell Lance all night. Keith thought it best to ignore that part.

“No. I’ll take the floor.” Lance turned to face Keith with a confused expression.

“You don’t wanna do that. These floors are old as hell and have nails everywhere. And I’m not gonna take responsibility if you get tetanus from a rusty screw.” Lance had a point, but he knew that this stupid crush was only gonna get worse if he took the bed.

“I’ll be fine. I usually sleep in my clothes anyway.” Lance gawked at him.

“What? How the hell do you manage to sleep in skinny jeans?” 

“It’s never bothered me before.” 

“Jesus man, do you ever take care of yourself? I refuse to let you sleep on my crappy floor in your shit clothes.” Keith rolled his eyes.

Lance set the yogurt bowl down and darted to his bedroom. A minute later, he tosses a pair of sweatpants and a big shirt at Keith.

“The shirt is huge, by the way. It’s not mine, it’s belongs to my best friend Hunk. He always leaves his clothing here.”

“You don’t need to do this. I said I would be fine in my clothes.” Lance scoffed.

“The bags under your eyes say otherwise. Or that’s just a lack of skincare. Just go get changed. I don’t care where. You sure you don’t want the bed?”

“I’m fine Lance. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Down the hall, first door on the left. Night.”

“Thanks. Night.” Lance went back to his bedroom and closed the door. Keith strolled into the bathroom and locked the door.

Keith allowed himself time to reflect on the events as he slipped out of his clothes. His robbery went wrong, he met an annoying but cute guy also trying to rob the place, they ran from the law, and now he was in said cute guy’s apartment wearing his pants. What a night.

He threw on the large shirt, which was about 6 sizes too big, and it slid off one of his shoulders, exposing Keith’s binder. He hoped Lance wouldn’t see it, or that he would just assume it was a tank top. Though, there was something about the domesticity of the whole situation that made Keith feel less tense than usual. Not that he wanted to get used to it.

He grabbed his clothes off the floor and headed back out into the main room. He stuffed his clothes into his bag, and sat on the only part of the floor with any kind of rug. It was pretty damn uncomfortable. Keith did his best to ignore it as he forced himself to sleep.

**

“Pidge, what the fuck?! You sent another robber to the same place I was robbing, what the hell?!” Keith’s eyes slowly adjusted to the light, as he awoke to the sound of Lance yelling at someone. He propped himself up on his elbow, and continued to listen in.

“Oh bullshit, don’t tell me you ‘forgot’! We’d been planning that heist for weeks, how do you just forget that I was robbing that place already?!” Damn, Lance was angry. The problem heist had pretty much escaped Keith’s mind after they got into Lance’s apartment. 

“Sorry, I was just really hoping for that heist to go well. Yeah, I got some good stuff but not nearly as much as I was hoping. At least mullet didn’t completely ruin my job.” Ouch. He already told Lance he didn’t ring that alarm. 

“Yeah, bye Pidge. Tell Hunk to meet with us tomorrow. We have to plan a smaller job to make up for this one. See ya.” Keith heard an exasperated sigh before the door opened. He stood up from the floor and adjusted the shirt as best he could. The last thing he needed was coming out to his not-crush.

“Mornin’ Keithy. Sleep well?” Lance inquired.

“I slept fine.” Lie. 

“Want some food? I think I still have the yogurt from yesterday.”

“I thought we were rivals. No need to be that nice to me.” Lie. Nothing was making Keith happier than Lance’s generosity. 

“Why can’t we be friendly rivals, eh? Look, I know I make a huge deal about one-upping you or whatever, but that’s just cause I’m competitive. And you did kinda fuck up my job yesterday.”

“I didn’t press the alarm! Will you let that go?” 

“I can guess you didn’t on purpose, but it’s possible it happened on accident. After all, you were pretty unprepared when you were there. But whatever, let bygones be bygones. I’m gonna make you food because I refuse to let my mother’s teachings go to waste.” Before Keith could retort, Lance had already dashed into the kitchen, and had begun to prepare the food. 

Keith leaned himself against the kitchen counter, watching Lance make two bowls of yogurt. Keith knew he had to leave soon, and likely never see Lance again for awhile (if at all), but he wanted to enjoy this little thing. 

“I still don’t get why you’re doing all of this. You had no reason to save me from the cops yesterday.” Lance’s head perked up and he cocked his eyebrow.

“Of course I did. Can’t have a rival if he’s in prison now can I?” Keith was sure that wasn’t the only reason, but he was willing to take that for an answer.

“Hm, sure Lance. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“At least I know to take the keys before trying to open a jewelry case.”

“You are never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“Nope.” Lance said, popping the ‘p’. 

The room fell silent as Keith was handed his bowl of yogurt. Lance sat on the counter opposite Keith.

“So, what’s your plan?” Keith looked up from his food and stared at Lance.

“Mind elaborating on that?”

“Well, are you gonna try to get back into the groove of the thief scene? You were gone for like, nearly half a year. You were a mess back at the shop, like you had no clue what you were doing.” That question caught Keith off guard. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He stole because it put money in his pocket. With what happened back at Galra Gems, it didn’t seem like the most reliable source of income. 

“I don’t know. I never thought about it before.”

“Man, and our rivalry was just now getting heated.” Keith gave a short laugh. 

“Keith, would you like to work with Pidge, Hunk and I?” Now that, that caught Keith off guard. 

“Uh, wouldn’t that ruin your ‘rivalry’ dynamic that you’ve worked so hard to achieve?” Lance rolled his eyes.

“Trust me mullet, this would make our rivalry stronger. We could work together so we both get money, but we could also compete against each other to see who can get the most in money, you feel?” 

“Why partner up with me? You said it yourself, I’m a pretty shitty thief now.”

“Guess that makes my job easier then. You don’t have to choose today. How about this, you meet with me and the crew at the coffee shop on 6th Avenue tomorrow. You hear our ideas, and then you can decide. That good?” Keith was thinking about this from two points of view. In practicality, this made sense. A small crew would help Keith with the money situation, and would make heists easier. From an emotional standpoint, working with your totally not-crush makes getting over said not-crush a bit difficult.

However, in the famous words of Shakespeare, ‘Fuck it’. 

“Sure. I’ll bite.” Lance’s face lit up in glee.

“Sweet! I’ll let you go after you finish your food, and I’ll text you the coffee shop place. Where’s your phone?” Keith put his bowl down and walked over to his bag, fishing for his phone. 

“I’ll just input your number. What is it?”

“212-557-2157.” Keith typed in the numbers to the contact. He was going to set the name as Lance, like a normal person would, but alas, Keith is weak.

He typed in “Pretty Boy”. He had both a lot and no regrets.

“Done. I’ll text you later so you get my number. I should probably get going.”

“Alright. You can just keep those clothes. I doubt Hunk will care about that shirt.” Lance was trying to kill him. How dare he.

“Thanks, I guess. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you too mullet.” Keith hiked his backpack on and put his shoes on. He waved Lance goodbye as he walked out of his apartment.

It didn’t take him long to reach for his phone and immediatly text Lance.  
Me | 8:34 a.m: Hey. It’s Keith. 

Pretty Boy | 8:35 a.m: couldnt stay away from the Tailor could ya ;)   
hold up, let me get the address for u

Keith had a feeling his life was about to take a weird turn. But he wasn’t totally complaining.

He could get used to this.


	3. The Planning Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meets with Pidge and Hunk to start planning another heist, but will Lance's guest come to help them?
> 
> (The answer is more likely than you think)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya bitch totally FORGOT abt this fic i aint gonna lie i was sapped of most creative juice for this 
> 
> luckily i finally have a drive to write again and m a y b e thisll be updated more?? no promises
> 
> also i wrote this fic while thinking about s3 someone come scream at me @blgaytz

Whenever Lance had a day off from his usual jobs, he’s quite productive. He cleans his apartment as best he can, gets groceries, pawns off the stolen goods. Today was different. Five hours had passed since Keith had left Lance’s apartment. And all Lance could think about was what to wear to the coffee shop in case Keith decided to show up. 

 

Lance has had crushes on pretty boys before. His first and only year at college was swamped with hot men. If he hadn’t dropped out of college, Lance is sure the amount of crushes would reach more than 20. 

 

Lance was smart enough to acknowledge his feelings as attraction. But that was it. Keith was hot, anyone could see that, but his personality was shit. Keith is impulsive, reckless, angry, standoffish, aggressive in a hot way— an  _ annoying  _ way.

 

Just a hot guy he might work with. If Keith decides to join him of course. It was his decision, no matter how much Lance wanted him.

 

Wanted to work with him. Just work with him.

 

After dwelling on outfit choices for 15 minutes, Lance groaned in frustration, having not picked anything. He checked the time on his phone. 2:53 p.m. He shut it off and tossed it back onto the old mattress. God, tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

 

He had three options for today. One) spend the day at home and relax after the heist. Two) stay home and clean like a responsible adult, which he totally was. Or three) go out and do— well, he’d figure it out.

 

He chose option one. 

 

Lance flopped down onto his shitty mattress, and grabbed his phone again. Using social media was more of a chore than anything, considering he had to be diligent of what he said. He swiped around a few times, looking for something to catch his attention, when his phone accidentally hit the Message app. It automatically opened Keith’s conversation. He read the last text he got from Keith.

 

Keith <3 | 8:38 a.m: Thanks. :)

 

Two things to gather from that. He should probably delete the heart, though he won’t, and that Keith used a smiley face. What does it mean? Does he mean it in a sarcastic way? Was that a yes to Lance’s offer? 

 

Lance realized what he was doing and wanted to punch himself. Of course, a great way to spend his day off is analyzing the texts of a pretty boy he just met. Out of all the shit he could’ve decided to do, he chose this course of action. Self control means jack shit.

 

Lance huffed in frustration and threw his phone to the side. He had already spent over five hours thinking about Keith and his stupid face and stupid mullet and stupidly nice voice. He refused to let his life be consumed by a pretty MacGyver wannabe. He decided to try and take a nap to sleep off all the shit that happened in the last 12 hours. 

 

He failed in that regard.

 

* * *

 

_ BEEP, BEEP, BEEEEP. BEEP, BEEP, BEE- _

 

The last beep in the cycle was interrupted by Lance damn near slamming his alarm off. He did not have a pleasant night’s sleep, and letting his annoying alarm continue to ruin his morning was not an option. He had to at least seem happy when he meets Keith.

 

If he meets Keith, Lance corrected. If, and only if, Keith actually gave a shit about him. 

 

He threw the sheets off of himself and checked the time. 11:15 a.m. He had 45 minutes before he had to leave. Perfect.

 

Lance had mastered his morning routine down to a science. He knew how to make himself look good, and never hesitated to do so. Today, he needed to make himself look  _ perfect.  _ Casually, obviously, but perfect.

 

10 minutes on hair, 10- minutes on face—a feat he was very proud of—10 minutes on his outfit, leaving him with enough time to ride his bike down to 6th Avenue. Today, he spent an extra two minutes on each activity. For himself, of course, not for anyone else. Especially not Keith. Nope, nada, not at all.

 

Lance grabbed his phone and earbuds off the floor, and took one last look in his full body mirror. He didn’t look over dressed, but he looked good. Very good. 

 

He walked down the stairs and left his apartment building, the sudden outdoor light temporarily blinding his vision. Once his eyes adjusted, he began walking down to the coffee shop to meet his crew. 

 

Pidge and Hunk were situated at their usual booth in the shop, towards the back by the large fake fig plant. Lance walked over and took a seat next to Hunk.

 

“Alright, I’m here. What have we got in terms of planning?” Hunk pulled out his phone while Pidge glared at Lance.

 

“No apology for screaming at me over the phone?” Lance gasped while Hunk snickered, scrolling through his notes.

 

“I did apologize! I’m sorry!” Pidge smirks.

 

“It feels so much better to hear it in person. I know you said it. Anyway, Hunk, whatcha got?” Lance rolled his eyes as Hunk showed him a map with several dots.

 

“So far these are the most profitable shops. We have 6 places right now, three of which are jewelry stores with high security, one is a museum of gemstones, and two banks. I know banks aren’t your style, but there’s only so many small shops.” Lance sighed. 

  
“Man, we’re running dry of places in our area. Banks are just so high profile! There’s no way I can rob an entire bank by myself, dude.” The bell rang as someone opened the door, and Lance took a quick glance at who it was, to make sure it wasn’t a cop or something. But what he saw was Keith. He actually showed up.

 

Hunk smirked as Lance stared at Keith, ordering a coffee. Pidge looked over her shoulder and had to stifle a laugh.

 

“I guess you won’t have to do it solo.” Hunk high fived Pidge as Keith walked over, his hair tied up in a ponytail. Lance had to force himself to stop staring.

 

“Uh, hey, I guess. Lance invited me to uh, join a heist.” Pidge and Hunk shared a glance and then nodded.

 

“Well hey, I’m Hunk. I collect intel for Lance and Pidge, and help her out in constructing stuff.” Pidge waved as Keith nodded and took a seat next to her.

 

“So pretty much all we’ve got is this. 3 jewelry stores, a gem museum, and two banks. Anything strike your fancy?” Keith looked at Hunk’s map and took at look at each location.

 

“Bank could be profitable. I’ve never robbed one before, though. Lance, have you?” Lance snapped out of his small daydream as Pidge cocked her eyebrow.

 

“Dishing out real names now, are we? That’s a bit out of character for you,  _ The Tailor. _ ” Lance rolled his eyes at her again and turned his attention to Keith.

 

“Nah, not my style.” Hunk and Pidge rolled their eyes. “I think it would be profitable though. What would need?” Pidge started typing furiously on her computer as Hunk took his phone and started going through feeds.

 

“Ok so, luckily that bank isn’t too big. Around 10 guards, security system isn’t too complicated, only like 4 security cameras, but here’s where we hit a snag.” Lance motioned for her to continue. “The vault has no vents or any passages into it, so we can’t use our usual approach like we do with stores. We could drill through the lock, but I don’t know if that sets off an alarm or not.” Keith furrowed his brows. Lance cocked his eyebrow at him.

 

“What’re you thinking in that head of yours, Keithy?” Keith ignored the nickname.

 

“Can’t we just get the keys?” Pidge started typing again, and Hunk showed his phone to Lance and Keith.

 

“So this part of town doesn’t experience a lot of robberies, which is good for you two to keep a low profile. I’m not sure about the other bank, but this one is also more profitable. Bad news, it’s dangerously close to the police station. You two just had a run in yesterday, so you will have to be extremely vigilant.” The two thieves nodded as Pidge motioned Keith to look at the computer.

  
“Ok, so about the keys. There are keys to the vault, but as a security measure, only half of the guards have them. I could try to find out more about each guard, but from what I’m seeing, they switch who has the keys everyday. It’ll be tricky to find which guard has keys, and also steal them without getting caught.” Keith groaned in frustration.

 

“Ok so let’s weigh our options. We either drill into the lock, which could cause a lot of noise and get us caught, or we try to steal the keys, when we don’t know where they are. So far, both look unappealing. Anyone got any ideas?” Lance inquired to the group, only to receive silence as an answer.

 

“Well, I could try to find a way to make a silent drill. Don’t know how long that will take, though.” Pidge said.

 

“I think we can get the keys. Lance, you stole the keys from the office yesterday yeah?” Lance nodded.

 

“Yeah, but there wasn’t anyone around the keys. I’m a good thief, not a good pickpocket.” Keith squinted at him. 

 

“Dude, we gotta try. Unless Hunk and Pidge can somehow make a silent drill, it’s our best bet.” Lance sighed.

 

“I really hate it when you’re right. Can I take back my offer for you to join the crew?” Keith smirked.

 

“Sadly no, but be prepared to be wrong often.” Lance sputtered.

 

“You should prepare to be wrong, you Mario Lopez copycat!” Keith cocked his eyebrow.

 

“Who the hell is Mario Lopez?” Pidge and Hunk just sighed and returned to their devices.

 

“He had a mullet and was in Saved by the Bell!” Keith sighed and gave up trying to argue. He went to get his coffee, and Pidge leaned over the table to meet Lance.

 

“You totally wanna bone down on Keith, don’t you?” Lance’s eyes widened.

 

“Of course not! He’s my rival! I would never! No! I can’t believe you would suggest such a thing!” Pidge cocked her eyebrow and Hunk put a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

 

“You really have it bad for him bro.” Lance rolled his eyes as Keith returned with his drink.

 

“Bad for who?” 

 

“No one!” Lance squawked. Keith raised his eyebrows in confusion but just shrugged, taking a sip of his drink.

 

“Well, now that the lovebirds are done, here’s what I got now.” Lance yelled ‘Hey!’ in protest while Keith stared at him.

 

“So if we steal the keys like Keith suggests, then we can get you into the vault relatively easily. You’ll just have to distract the guards by the vault, and there seems to only be two. Or you could kill them.”

 

“Pidge, they aren’t killing anyone.” Pidge groaned.

 

“Lame. Whatever, just distract them and then use the keys to get into the vault. Now getting out, that’s the hard part. I’ve got nothing for that so far. Which is  _ why  _ I simply suggested mur-”

 

“THEY AREN’T KILLING ANYONE PIDGE!” Hunk said much too loudly for a public venue, earning them a few stares from customers and staff. 

 

“Fine! Any ideas on how to get them safely out of the building?!” Keith turned his head slightly.

 

“We can just figure it out in the moment right? It’s what I do.” Lance turned to face Keith.

 

“Keith, Keithy, Keifers, Mullet, Hulk Hogan, we almost got arrested because you winged it.” Keith’s face went sour.

 

“I told you I didn’t trip that damn alarm!” 

 

“You did still try to bust open a case with your bare hands. We need a plan, not an outline.” Keith rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink.

 

“I mean, theoretically you could just go for it, but I’d rather not have two of my friends get arrested. We still do have a basic plan out. You two can head back home, me and Hunk can get started on the logistics and shit, and start on that drill. You two have fun!” She and Hunk were out the door in a matter of seconds, leaving Keith and Lance alone in the booth.

 

“We should leave, right?” Lance nodded as they stood up, leaving the cafe.

 

“Well, see you later.” Keith began to walk away.

 

“Wait!” Keith stopped and turned around. “Would… we could go back to my apartment to work out heist stuff? If you want?” Keith hesitated, but walked with Lance back to his apartment.

 

Lance tried to make himself believe this was just two guys planning a heist. That’s it. Rivals working to make money. But deep down, he was completely aware of what he was doing.

 

This partnership was both the best and worst thing to happen to him. But if all else fails, at least he got to see Keith in his pants. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can u tell idk what im doing w this fic anymore
> 
> also it Seems like keith is oblivious to feelings but little do u know he internalizes like a motherfucker


End file.
